codetoimage vs ScreenshotOne
Both target developers, both have free tiers, both have a clean single-endpoint API. The two differences that matter: what you render, and whether your AI agent can invoke it natively.
TL;DR
- ✅ Pick codetoimage if you render HTML/CSS you control (OG images, cards, templates), want an MCP server + npm CLI, or want to pay $7 instead of $17 at entry.
- ✅ Pick ScreenshotOne if you need to screenshot live URLs (real web pages), want 11 output formats including video/PDF/Markdown, need 7 SDKs out of the box, or run Zapier/Make/n8n automations today.
- ⚖️ Different primary use cases — they screenshot, we render.
Side-by-side
| Feature | codetoimage | ScreenshotOne |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2026 | ✓ 2022 (Dmytro Krasun) |
| Primary use case | Render arbitrary HTML/CSS to image | Screenshot live URLs |
| Free tier | Sandbox — 50/mo, recurring | ✓ 100/mo, recurring |
| Starting paid | ✓ $7/mo (Hobby) — 3,000 renders | $17/mo (Basic) — 2,000 screenshots |
| Scale tier price | Scale plan | ✓ $259/mo — 50,000 screenshots |
| Output formats | PNG, JPEG, WebP | ✓ PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, AVIF, HEIF, JP2, TIFF, PDF, HTML, Markdown |
| Hosted URL output | Yes — CDN-served, 24h TTL | Yes (via storage option) |
| Official CLI on npm | ✓ Yes — @codetoimage/cli | No |
| Official MCP server | ✓ Yes — stdio via npx | No |
| Listed in Anthropic MCP Registry | ✓ Yes | No |
| Official SDKs | Not available today | ✓ 7 (Node, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Java, .NET) |
| Integrations on landing | REST + CLI + MCP | ✓ Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable, Bubble, Clay |
| Video output | No | ✓ Yes |
| Auth header | X-API-Key | X-Access-Key (or query param) |
| Agent-first positioning | ✓ Yes — MCP, CLI, free tier path | Footer link to AI Agents page (page is 404) |
Where we win
MCP + CLI as native surfaces. ScreenshotOne markets to AI agents (footer link), but their dedicated page is 404 and they don't ship an MCP server or CLI. We're the only HTML-to-image stack in Anthropic's MCP Registry, with an npm CLI also officially maintained.
$10/mo cheaper at entry. Hobby is $7/mo vs their Basic $17/mo. If you're rendering under 3,000 images/month you're paying less than half.
Render, not screenshot. For workloads where you have the HTML/CSS already (build-time OG images, template-driven cards, agent-generated UI), passing a URL to ScreenshotOne would mean publishing a stub page first. We skip that step entirely.
Where they win
11 output formats vs our 3. If you need GIF, AVIF, HEIF, JP2, TIFF, PDF, or Markdown output, they cover it today. We ship PNG, JPEG, WebP.
7 official SDKs vs ours not today. Node, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Java, .NET. We have a CLI; native SDKs aren't available today.
No-code integrations. Zapier, Make, n8n, Airtable, Bubble, Clay — they ship pre-built integrations for marketing/ops teams. We don't (yet).
Live-URL screenshot features. GDPR/cookie-banner removal, ad blocking, chat-widget hiding, stealth mode, dark-mode toggle, IP geo-routing. All useful if you're screenshotting third-party pages. Not applicable to code-to-image workloads.
Migration snippet (HTML-driven workloads only)
# before (ScreenshotOne — screenshotting a URL you control)
curl "https://api.screenshotone.com/take?\
access_key=KEY&url=https://example.com/og-card" \
-o out.png
# after (codetoimage — render the HTML directly, no stub page)
curl -X POST https://api.codetoimage.app/v1/render \
-H "X-API-Key: cti_live_…" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"html":"<h1>Hi</h1>","width":1200,"height":630}' \
-o out.pngTry the difference
50 renders/month free, no credit card. Wire up MCP in 60 seconds, or curl from your terminal.
Get an API key →